Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Shopping in Florence was a lot more fun than Venice as there was a massive shopping district, however I still found that there wasn't a great variety of stores, with only a couple of reasonably priced stores, a bunch of expensive designer stores, a couple of boutiques, and a strange amount of lingerie stores which I wasn't in the market for.

Today was my shopping day and I bought a jumper from this store called Top Girl which had some funky other pieces like shaggy jumpers and fur jackets that I would have loved to have bought but I already had similar pieces at home. I really like the quirky eye print as I've been looking for more bold pieces. I've been trying to buy some coloured pieces of clothing but it is slim pickings over here with the dominant colours in store being black, grey and dark reds, blues and greens.

I also bought a pair of sunglasses from Zara. I bought away with me a simple pair of black wayfarer style sunnies, but I've been wanting a pair a bit more colourful and patterned. It was also really great for them to also give me the pleather sunglasses case which feels so sturdy and will be able to handle my bag being thrown around for another two months of travel.

Florence has been such a lovely place, my family and I haven't been to too many famous sights, just seeing the major ones that we've really wanted too. Otherwise we've spent most of our time eating the yummiest pastries and gelato and walking it off around the streets.

We have visited the il Duomo, this beautiful massive church that has the most detailed exterior design I have ever seen, we walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo which is a lookout over the whole city, we also visited the famous statue Michelangelos David which was incredible, I definitely saw the reason why it is so admired. I also took some sneaky pics of him which I wasn't supposed to but shh...

The weather has been actually bearable here so I've been able to wear my new jacket from Pull and Bear!

Sorry for not posting in a while, I had nonexistent internet in Venice and my days here in Florence have been full on! I'm usually out all day and then am too tired to do anything in the evenings.

Venice was so beautiful that none of my pictures do it justice, it felt like I was in a movie, everything was so picturesque. My family and I spent our three days there walking each day and just taking in all the sights. The island of Venice is quite small so it easy to see a lot in one day, it is also easy to get lost in all the little alleyways but somehow you'll always manage to find your way home. My one tip would be to stay where the people are, they generally know where they are and where they are going!

I was disappointed however by the shopping, all the stores were either too touristy, selling masks, leather goods or murano glass, or they were too expensive, which isn't a problem if you have a bottomless pit that is your wallet, yet for me who is on a limited budget that has needed to stretch across six weeks it is a bit difficult.

Monday, December 16, 2013

What a beautiful time we had in Munich, full of great food and beautiful buildings and scenery. We also made a day trip by train into Salzburg where the movie The Sound of Music was filmed which I am such a huge fan of. In Munich we went into the tourist part of the city at Marienplatz where we visited lovely churches and had lunch at a famous beer garden. That evening we also visited a huge Christmas market which I mentioned in my last post.

In Salzburg we took a sightseeing bus all around the city and saw all the major sights where The Sound of Music was filmed. We also took a cable car up to the top of one of the Alps mountains where we played around in the snow.

On our last day we visited the concentration camp at Dachau which was a very somber experience as we got to see the horrid conditions that these people lived in.

As I write this I am sitting at a train station waiting to board our train to Venice which I am so excited about! Two weeks in Italy is going to be amazing!

Because we only had a few days here in Munich I wasn't really able to go on a huge shopping spree like I have been able to in Paris and Berlin, but that was fine as I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the beautiful historic buildings in the city and also when we went to Salzburg for a day trip.

I did manage to buy though this gorgeous ring from a Christmas market in Theresienwise. It is actually an old spoon that had been turned into a ring, which I thought was really funky. I love how unique it is and also the fact that it will never tarnish like the usual cheap rings I buy.

I thought that this was a great piece that will forever remind me of my time in Munich!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Today I had a day to myself where I went shopping of course! I wore my new Zara coat with my Ziggy denim jeans and snow boots. I travelled along the Kurfursten-dame street which is this massive 3.3km shopping street. I had a great time browsing through all the stores, Berlin had a lot more variety in more reasonably priced stores than Paris however I did find that a lot of these cheaper stores stocked the same sort of styles that did not have the best quality.

Some of the stores I went to included Mango, Forever 21, H&M, Pim Kie, COS, & Other Stories, Pull and Bear, Zara, C&A and a couple of others. I absolutely loved Pull and Bear, they had great variety in their pieces, it wasn't just all different versions of the same style which is what most stores seem to do these days. I also really enjoyed & Other Stories, they had such beautiful pieces and great accessories however I felt that some of the clothes were almost trying too hard to be fashion forward - lots of stiff neoprene and thick felt dresses - although the pieces looked great in the lookbook photos, I felt that for the average person they would not be flattering for everyday.

From Mango I bought this basic black top, it has a really great texture and a really flattering shape to it.

From & Other Stories I bought this beautiful watercolour tank. There was also this lovely wrap dress that I tried on that I now regret not buying, but I'm sure I'll come across another store somewhere else in either Europe or America.

Sorry for the horrible flash but being in difficult lighting it's hard to show you the detail on the great pieces I bought from Pull and Bear. I got this great mini skirt with beading all over the front, and a bomber style jacket with this sleek embroidery design on the back.

I still have 4 and a bit more weeks left in Europe and I'm already running out of money - haha. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to borrow a bit from the parents to last me...

My family and I have spent the last five days in Berlin walking around the city and visiting all the famous sites of World War Two and the Cold War and drinking lots of hot chocolate! It has been remarkable to stand in the same places that so many famous historical figures have stood before. Berlin however certainly hasn't been as beautiful as Piaris, most likely because of the wars that have ravaged the city, but I have still really enjoyed the experience. Berlin apparently has a pretty amazing night life but since I'm not a big party-er nor have been with my friends here I've missed out on that, so that's maybe what might bring me back one day.

Some of the places my family and I have visited include the Reichstag building, the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin cathedral, the KaDeWe, the Berlin Wall gallery, the Brandenburg gates, and many memorials. Out of these I would have to say that my favourite has been the Berlin Wall gallery, however it was very disappointing to see the senseless graffiti that has ruined these great works of art.

Monday, December 9, 2013

I'm on the otherside of the world and I am still thinking of these flatform shoes from Wittner that I tried on just before I left on my holiday. I am seriously contemplating buying them and having them shipped to the people house sitting my house, or is that too crazy....